U'll probably not get the new Wii before Christmas. No wait, you WILL!

EDIT: The European launch date has just been confirmed as 30 November!

If you were hoping to treat yourselves or the kids to the new Nintendo Wii U for Christmas, you might have to think again – the Japanese launch of the console won’t be until 8 December, with no international launch dates available as yet.

There’ll be two versions of the Wii U – a basic edition (with 8GB of storage) will cost 26,250 yen (£210) and a premium (32GB) version 31,500 yen (£251). Somewhat jaw-droppingly, if you want to buy an additional GamePad controller (pictured), that’ll set you back 13,000 yen (£104). Yowzers!

Games-wise, the Wii U will be launched alongside New Super Mario Bros U, which should at least help the consoles to fly off the shelves, and regardless of when the U comes to Britain, it’ll still be ahead of the next generation of consoles from rivals Microsoft and Sony, who aren’t expected to come up with anything new until late 2013.

ANOTHER EDIT: The Wii U will come with Nintendo Land, a bundle of 12 mini-games. Other new titles will include Rayman Legends, ZombiU, FIFA 13, Mass Effect 3, Trine 2, Lego City Undercover and Bayonetta 2.

Could this have really not waited until after the New York announcement at 6pm BST today when all the internation details will be released? Then again it would be nothing new of Bitterwallet to be proven wrong.